Dina sent a message to the group just as Sera closed her laptop.
PAYDAY DEVOTEES
Dina: Let’s eat. I’ll treat.
Adit: Because you just caused trouble?
Dina: Why’d you jump straight to that?
Miko: Because you caused trouble earlier.
Dina: I’m taking back my offer.
Sera chuckled as she read the conversation. After spending several days being chased by deadlines, dinner without a laptop in front of her sounded far more appealing than going home with her head full of revisions.
Sera: What time?
Dina: Now. Before I change my mind.
Gilang appeared a few seconds later.
Gilang: I’m in.
Dina: There. Now we’re complete.
They went downstairs almost at the same time and chose a restaurant a little farther from the Mariposa building. It was fairly crowded, but there was still one empty table in the back. As soon as they sat down, Dina eagerly opened the menu, showing an enthusiasm they hadn’t seen from her in a long time—not since their last project began.
“I want a good meal. No one’s allowed to talk about saving money tonight,” she said, pointing at several items on the menu, as if the decision to eat without looking at the prices had been made long before they arrived.
Adit, sitting beside her, looked at the same page. “You sure you want to treat?” he asked, glancing at the prices of the food Dina had pointed out.
Dina lowered the menu and stared at him, offended. “I’m the one who invited you. You think I’m going to run when the bill comes?” she said, then casually opened the menu again.
Miko, sitting across from them, chuckled. “I’m screenshotting that,” he said, raising his phone as if he were about to record their conversation for posterity.
Dina immediately pointed at him with the menu. “Why?” she asked, even though she could already guess.
“For proof when you pretend to forget later,” Miko replied, lowering his phone and going back to the food list.
“Just order. I’m feeling generous,” Dina said, waving her hand as if the bill were something that didn’t need to be thought about at all that night.
Sera held back a laugh at her friend’s confidence. Gilang, sitting beside Sera, merely shook his head before opening the menu too.
The food arrived one dish at a time. For the first few minutes, they were completely silent because everyone was busy with their own plates. After several days of living with client emails, revisions, and deadlines that changed on a whim, having dinner without a laptop on the table felt like a small luxury.
Dina even leaned back and let out a satisfied breath. “I just realized we can eat without talking about the client,” she said, twirling her fork in her hand.
Sera laughed. “I think the last five days were enough to traumatize us,” she said, picking up her drink and settling more comfortably into her chair.
Dina snorted but eventually laughed along. “I regret inviting you guys to dinner,” she grumbled, reaching for her drink.
“Too late,” Gilang called from beside Sera. He pointed at the table, already crowded with food, and smiled faintly. “The food’s here.”
The conversation started flowing again until Adit received a notification from his bank. He read his phone screen for a moment, then sighed before slipping it back into his pocket.
Dina immediately noticed the change in his expression. “What’s wrong?” she asked, pausing mid-bite.
“Nothing, just bills,” Adit replied, patting the pocket where he’d put his phone.
“Don’t open it if it’s going to stress you out,” Dina said with a chuckle before reaching for her food again.
Adit shook his head. “Not paying them would stress me out even more,” he said, reaching for his glass and taking a drink.
Dina nodded as if that answer made perfect sense. Then she opened her own mobile banking app, perhaps because their conversation had reminded her of the state of her account—something she had deliberately avoided checking since that morning.
As soon as her balance appeared on the screen, her smile shifted slightly.
Sera, sitting across from her, caught the change immediately. “What’s wrong?” she asked, setting down her glass.
“Nothing,” Dina answered quickly. She locked the screen at once, too quickly for someone who genuinely had nothing to worry about.
Sera raised an eyebrow. “Auto-debit?” she asked, this time with a slight smile because she knew Dina’s habits.
Dina set her phone beside her plate. “I’m just making sure my decision tonight wasn’t stupid,” she said, then picked up a piece of food as if nothing had happened.
Miko glanced at her from across the table. “And?” he asked, holding back a smile.
Dina sighed and opened the mobile banking app again. She scrolled through the past few days of transactions, looking at coffee, online food orders, transportation costs, several small purchases, and one transaction that even she needed a moment to remember.
Sera glanced at the screen. “You don’t realize how many small expenses you have?” she asked, leaning back in her chair.
Dina immediately moved her phone away. “Don’t start,” she said, staring at Sera.
“I’m not starting anything,” Sera replied, raising both hands slightly in surrender.
“You already have the look of an auditor, you know,” Dina said with a small laugh to lighten the mood.
Gilang, who had been listening all along, smiled too. “If you want to save money, don’t just stop buying everything you like,” he said, setting down his fork. “Just figure out what’s making the biggest hole.”
Dina turned to him. “Like what?” she asked, resting her chin on one hand.
“If you buy something every afternoon because you’re bored, maybe that’s what you should cut back on,” Gilang replied, explaining it in a relaxed tone. “If it’s something you need or something that makes you happy, then keep buying it. Just don’t call everything a necessity.”
Dina was quiet for a moment. She looked at Gilang a little more seriously before finally snickering. “You actually know how to say something sensible,” she said, picking up her spoon again.
Gilang raised an eyebrow. “Actually?” he asked, pretending to be offended.
“Don’t be offended,” Dina replied, waving her hand.
“I’m not offended,” Gilang said, and his smile made Sera smile too.
The conversation then expanded to everyone’s expenses. Adit talked about school fees for his child and household needs that came every month. Miko admitted that he was pretty disciplined about saving part of his income, although it eventually came out that he had once bought an expensive keyboard that now gathered dust more often than it got used.
Dina then turned to Gilang. “What about you?” she asked, resting her elbow on the table.
Gilang looked up. “What about me?” he asked, even though he already knew where the question was going.
“What’s your biggest expense?”
Gilang thought for a moment before answering. “Household needs,” he said briefly, then went back to his food.
Dina waited a few seconds. “That’s it?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.
Gilang looked at her and chuckled. “You want my financial report?”
Dina immediately shook her head. “No. I thought there’d be a story,” she said, touching the dessert that had just arrived.
“Not everything has a story,” Gilang replied, continuing to eat.
Sera merely smiled at that. She knew when Gilang was joking and when he genuinely didn’t want to discuss something any further.
Dina finally turned to her. “What about you?” she asked, twirling her spoon between her fingers.
Sera already knew the question was coming. She set down her glass before answering, “Household stuff too.”
Dina nodded. She didn’t ask anything else. They had been friends for a long time and knew each other’s boundaries well enough.
Dina was almost finished with her dessert when Adit glanced at his phone lying on the table.
“Good thing you made your own group back then,” he said with a smile. “Otherwise, how would we have gotten this close?”
Dina nodded immediately. “That’s why I made Payday Devotees. So we could say whatever we wanted without worrying about anyone at the office reading it.”
“You’re in most of it, though,” Miko said.
“Because you guys are so passive.”
Sera laughed too. “The group name really does fit.”
“Right?” Dina looked pleased. “We’re all devotees of the 25th.”
“Most of us,” Miko corrected.
Before Dina could answer, the server came over with the bill. She took it casually, but her expression changed as soon as she saw the total at the bottom.
Adit noticed immediately. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” Dina replied, recounting the amount. “I just realized my generosity is pretty expensive.”
Miko laughed. “Who was it that said she wanted to treat?”
“Me. That’s why I’m paying.”
Dina handed her card to the server and leaned back in her chair, trying to stay casual until the transaction was complete.
As soon as the payment went through, she opened her mobile banking app.
The balance on the screen wiped the smile off her face.
Sera happened to see it from the side. “Still okay?”
Dina hurriedly locked her phone. “I’m fine.”
They eventually left the restaurant. Adit and Miko walked ahead while Sera and Gilang followed a few steps behind.
“Are you going home now?” Gilang asked when they reached the intersection.
Sera adjusted her bag strap. “I’m going to stop somewhere for a bit.”
“I’ll walk you?”
Sera turned to him with a smile. “Our homes are in opposite directions.”
“I know.”
“Then why offer?”
Gilang put his hands in his pockets. “Figured you might want me to.”
Sera gave a small shake of her head. “I can manage on my own.”
“Okay. Be careful.”
They went their separate ways.
On the way home, Dina opened her mobile banking app again. She wanted to make sure she hadn’t misread the balance earlier.
The number was right.
“Still okay,” she muttered.
A notification appeared.
AUTO-DEBIT SUCCESSFUL
Dina opened it.
Her eyes immediately widened.
She entered her remaining balance into the calculator, then subtracted the bill due the next day.
The result appeared.
Dina stopped walking.
“Holy crap.”
Her hand immediately opened PAYDAY DEVOTEES.
Dina: Guys.
A few seconds later, she sent a screenshot of her balance.
Dina: I have a problem.
Miko replied first.
Miko: What now?
Dina stared at the number on the screen before typing.
Dina: This is all I have left.
Three dots appeared almost at the same time.
And this time, Dina really started to panic.